SIEF is an international organization that facilitates and stimulates cooperation among scholars
working within European Ethnology, Folklore Studies, Cultural Anthropology and adjoining fields. SIEF organizes
large international congresses and smaller workshops. Read more about
SIEF...

SIEF News

What do ethnologists do?

Filmed at the SIEF2017 conference in Göttingen, this three and a half minute long film, entitled 'What do ethnologists do?' comprises SIEF members sharing their views on what distinguishes ethnology from other disciplines, and what ethnologists can actually do to tackle the challenges of the contemporary world. We hope you find the film inspiring and interesting.

Two new Ethnological sensations are available to view online: ​Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch (Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland) had an aha-moment at the breakfast table - she describes what a marmalade jar had to do with it. Dani Schrire's (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) ethnological moment took place in the national library in Jerusalem while doing research on the history of Zionist Folkloristics.​

Welcome to Santiago de Compostela: SIEF 2019

SIEF Summer School 2018

We are glad to announce the second international SIEF summer school that will take place in Aberdeen, Scotland, UK, from 22-29 June, 2018. The theme of the summer school is Giving Voice? Facilitating Social and Community Resilience. It is intended primarily for PhD students interested in the issues of community entrepreneurship, social resilience and the relationship between research partnership and activism. Please see here for all the details and how to apply.

In two cabinet decrees issued in September and October 2016 within the context of the state of emergency rule, 68 signatories of the Peace Petition (“We will not be a party to this crime” – Academics for Peace, in January 2016) were deemed “supporters of terrorism”, dismissed from their posts and banned from public service. At least two of these are associated with SIEF and our sister organization AFS: Yücel Demirer and Derya Keskin-Demirer, who frequently attend SIEF meetings. They were dismissed from their positions at Kocaeli University along with 37 other faculty members without a hearing or right to appeal the decision. They are among 3,613 academics dismissed by Turkish authorities in the last three months. Read more ...

SIEF JOURNALS

On the occasion of the 50th year since the publication of the first issue of Ethnologia Europaea in 1967, this issue is dedicated to reflection on the past half-century. It presents five articles, one from each decade of the journal's publication, on the one hand showcasing classic articles and on the other highlighting the shifts and re-orientations the journal has undergone along the way. These changes are addressed in the comments on each article by a wide range of scholars as well as in the overarching reflections on 50 years of Ethnologia Europaea by two of its former editors, Regina F. Bendix and Orvar Löfgren.